Taste and the algorithm

Today, a consistent part of our everyday interaction with art and aesthetic artefacts occurs through digital media, and our preferences and choices are systematically tracked and analyzed by algorithms in ways that are far from transparent. Our consumption is constantly documented, and then, we are fed back
through tailored information. We are therefore witnessing the emergence of a
complex interrelation between our aesthetic choices, their digital elaboration,
and also the production of content and the dynamics of creative processes. All
are involved in a process of mutual influences, and are partially determined by
the invisible guiding hand of algorithms. With regard to this topic, this paper
will introduce some key issues concerning the role of algorithms in aesthetic
domains, such as taste detection and formation, cultural consumption and production, and showing how aesthetics can contribute to the ongoing debate
about the impact of today’s “algorithmic culture”.